Cummins' divisions roll out new and enhanced products

LOUISVILLE, KY. Two divisions of Cummins Inc. are showing off some new products as well as enhancements to current offerings here at the 2013 Mid America Trucking Show.

Cummins Turbo Technologies unveiled a suite of near-market and future solutions capable of improving the fuel efficiency of any modern diesel engine by at least 6% – gains enabled by the shift from emissions-driven developments toward solutions that prioritize fuel economy, said Mark Firth, executive director-product line management and marketing.

“The industry has now reached the tipping point at which global engine and vehicle manufacturers are developing products designed to insulate customers from rising fuel prices,” he explained.

Among the technologies Cummins Turbo will display at Mid America are:

A Waste Heat Turbine Expander prototype that captures what would otherwise be lost energy in the form of heat, from a number of sources onboard the vehicle, and turns it into useful mechanical 34 hp power capable of reducing vehicle fuel consumption by 5% and delivering fuel savings of up to $5,500 per year.

A next-generation VGT Turbocharger based on a validated platform that is 4.4 lbs. lighter than the model it replaces.

An inverse impeller that replaces conventional designs and, through the use of flow optimization software, can improve compressor stage efficiency by 1% on its own – delivering $160 per year in fuel savings for on-highway applications.

A new Holset Rotary Turbine Control (RTC) with patented flow-channeling technology that directs exhaust gas to selected ports, for limited exhaust control capability. RTC is integrated into the turbine housing within Cummins Turbo’s Modulated 2-stage (M2) and Serial 2-stage (S2) products.

Firth added that the trend towards downsizing – which sees engine and vehicle manufacturers aiming to maintain or increase the power outputs from their products while making them smaller and lighter – is driving most of those developments.

Cummins Emission Solutions is showing off the proprietary design of the spray nozzle on the EcoFit UL2 Liquid-Only Urea Dosing System at Mid America; a design that offers improved “atomization” of urea while also offering freeze-robust components to allow for optimal pump-priming and the prevention of crystallization throughout the unit.

Following the acquisition of Hilite International’s Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) division in July 2012, Cummins Emission’s added the UL2 system to its engineered-components portfolio.

Zach Gillen, the division’s GM of engineered noted that the system’s dosing nozzle provides improved oxides of nitrogen (NOx) conversion efficiency rates through urea droplet sizes unrivaled by those of competitive airless systems. Thus with droplet sizes comparable to those of air-assisted systems, the likelihood of urea droplets in the “decomposition reactor” is significantly reduced, he said.

“By offering freeze robustness, urea can remain in the system at all times, even during freeze events,” Gillen explained. “Keeping urea in the system prevents crystallization and clogging, eliminates the need for power at key-off for purging, allows quicker dosing at key-on and prevents damage to the system during intentional or unintentional power interruption of the vehicle.”